28.07.2003  DAVID BRABHAM AND JAN MAGNUSSEN MAKE THE PODIUM ON FIRST OUTING IN PRODRIVE FERRARI 550 MARANELLO

After an action-packed, yellow flag-filled, thrilling race, the Prodrive Ferrari 550 of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen battled through to a GTS class podium finish on their debut for the team in today’s Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma.  Their team-mates Tomas Enge and Peter Kox finished 4th in class, with valuable Championship points being gained for the team. 

Both cars suffered accident damage during the race, although not badly enough to need any long pit stops or time behind the wall.  Magnussen – who had closed on the leading Corvette enough to challenge for position – was the first to strike trouble when, just over 30 minutes into the race, he clashed with a slower P675 car causing damage to the front bodywork.  The accident did not prove to be overly detrimental to the handling and performance of the car, although the aerodynamics were slightly affected, so he continued for the remainder of his stint.

The slippery Sonoma circuit caused Peter Kox to uncharacteristically make a couple of mistakes which, although not harming the car, cost time and track positions.  Kox’s team-mate, Enge, was pushing hard in the final hour of the race to try and gain on the class leaders when he came into contact with a GT car – the result of which meant a last minute pit stop to repair the damaged front of the car. 

David Brabham (AUS), car 80:  “That was a great experience.  We weren’t too sure at the beginning what was going to happen so to get a podium finish is good.  We showed we’d got the pace in the car, but things didn’t go our way.  However, we’ve got a lot in the bank ready for the next race.”

Jan Magnussen (DK), car 80:  “I had a really good start and went through the traffic fast, with good passing moves.  Then I caught up with a slow P675 (#18) who I guess didn’t see me.  He let Ollie through and though I was right behind him, he kind of stopped in the middle of the corner and I went right into him.  There’s a bit of damage on the car, mainly bodywork, which is a shame and I’m sorry I didn’t pass over a 100% car to David.  It’s hard to pass here,  but we’ll do all we can.”

Tomas Enge (CZ), car 88:  “We had hard luck today.  Obviously everything started badly yesterday with qualifying and that was our biggest problem.  To overtake the slower GT cars here is very difficult.  We had to take risks and unfortunately they did not all go in our favour.  But we got points and are now looking forward to the next race.”

Peter Kox (NL), car 88:  “Not the best day.  Normally I don’t spin and today I had two!  I don’t really know why, apart from the fact that the track is very slippery, but I do know I am happy not to have crashed the car.”

Dyson Motorsport’s Lola-MG P675 claimed a historic result by taking the chequered flag in today’s race – the first time a car from the less-powerful class has taken an overall win in the Series. 

JMB RACING RACE REPORT

Stephan Gregoire and Eliseo Salazar drove the JMB Racing USA Team’s Ferrari 360 Modena to an eighth place finish at the Chevy Grand Prix of Atlanta Sunday. 
After a downpour 20 minutes prior to qualifying on Saturday, the grid was set according to each team’s fastest practice times. As JMB USA was working on race set up with full fuel tanks and older tires, the provisional grid starting position was a little disappointing. 

Starting 12th in the GT class, Stephan Gregoire started the race on a mission. After a blown tire leading into turn 10 on lap 41, the team’s fuel strategy immediately changed and Salazar took over control of the # 28 Ferrari. Eliseo slowly clawed his way up through the field from 16th to finish a respectable eighth in class. 

With the 3 points of the 8th position , JMB Racing USA retains its fourth place in the team championship point standings. Drivers Stephan Gregoire and Eliseo Salazar now sit 10th and 16th respectively in the driver’s championship. 

Eliseo Salazar concluded “Overall, the weekend was a learning experience for myself and the team. It was my first time in the car and Stephan’s first time at the track. With a little more experience under our belts, we are looking forward to going to Sonoma and the rest of the ALMS season.” 
 

Pos Class Pos Car No. Class Drivers No. Laps Diff Total Time Best Time In Lap Make Status
1 1 16 LMP675 Weaver / Leitzinger 102 2:45:57.739 1:24.229 97 Lola EX257/AER Running
2 1 1 LMP900/GTP Biela / Werner 102 3.708 2:46:01.447 1:25.388 97 Audi R8 Running
3 2 38 LMP900/GTP Herbert / Lehto 102 39.750 2:46:37.489 1:25.234 93 Audi R8 Running
4 3 27 LMP900/GTP Auberlen / Theys 102 39.878 2:46:37.617 1:25.884 45 Dallara/MG Running
5 4 10 LMP900/GTP Beretta / Jeannette 101 --1 Lap-- 2:46:56.697 1:26.430 46 Panoz LMP01/EPP Running
6 5 11 LMP900/GTP Saelens / Leuenberger 101 14.488 2:47:11.185 1:26.151 45 Panoz LMP01/EPP Running
7 2 20 LMP675 C. Dyson / Wallace 100 --2 Laps-- 2:46:28.546 1:25.963 93 Lola EX257/AER Running
8 1 3 GTS Fellows / O'Connell 97 --5 Laps-- 2:46:41.266 1:33.265 3 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Running
9 2 4 GTS Gavin / Collins 97 0.424 2:46:41.690 1:32.813 91 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Running
10 3 80 GTS Magnusssen / Brabham 96 --6 Laps-- 2:46:35.200 1:32.833 84 Ferrari 550 Maranello Running
11 6 30 LMP900/GTP Field / Sutherland 94 --8 Laps-- 2:46:32.635 1:31.099 14 Lola B2K/10/MG Running
12 4 88 GTS Enge / Kox 94 33.688 2:47:06.323 1:32.216 84 Ferrari 550 Maranello Running
13 1 23 GT Maassen / Luhr 93 --9 Laps-- 2:46:01.076 1:36.807 80 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
14 2 24 GT Bernhard / Bergmeister 93 0.524 2:46:01.600 1:36.741 83 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
15 3 35 GT Kelleners / Lazzaro 93 37.397 2:46:38.473 1:37.650 4 Ferrari 360 Modena Running
16 4 66 GT Buckler / Wagner 93 37.797 2:46:38.873 1:38.546 82 Porsche 911 GT3RS Running
17 5 31 GT Mowlem / Petersen /Stanton 92 --10 Laps-- 2:46:49.716 1:38.784 5 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
18 3 18 LMP675 Workman / McEntee 92 21.230 2:47:10.946 1:37.167 5 Lola B2K/40/Nissan Running
19 6 79 GT Jackson / Murry 91 --11 Laps-- 2:46:59.028 1:38.599 52 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
20 7 43 GT Hindery / Baron 91 25.402 2:47:24.430 1:39.183 78 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
21 8 67 GT Schrom / Ehret 90 --12 Laps-- 2:47:13.826 1:40.162 51 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
22 5 0 GTS Naspetti / Schiattarella 90 20.944 2:47:34.770 1:34.180 76 Ferrari 550 Maranello Running
23 9 42 GT Jay Policastro / Joe Policastro 89 --13 Laps-- 2:47:15.013 1:40.634 10 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
24 10 89 GT Bader / Negri 87 --15 Laps-- 2:46:20.578 1:41.363 56 Porsche 911 GT3RS Running
25 11 28 GT Gregoire / Salazar 87 33.732 2:46:54.310 1:39.818 74 Ferrari 360 Modena Running
26 12 61 GT Rice / Alexander 87 38.443 2:46:59.021 1:42.026 12 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
27 13 63 GT Lewis / Borcheller 87 58.693 2:47:19.271 1:41.077 23 Ferrari 360 Modena Running
28 14 68 GT Gleason / Bunting 81 --21 Laps-- 2:46:06.854 1:41.157 14 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
29 15 60 GT Liddell / Davison 72 --30 Laps-- 2:13:02.263 1:39.988 5 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Running
30 6 71 GTS Belloc / Povoledo 71 --31 Laps-- 2:29:17.447 1:36.445 28 Dodge Viper GTS-R Engine
31 7 12 LMP900/GTP Lewis / Drissi 45 --57 Laps-- 1:32:46.580 1:30.336 3 R & S MK III C/Lincoln Oil Leak
32 16 33 GT Pumpelly / Lally 44 --58 Laps-- 1:20:13.685 1:39.840 12 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Mechanical
33 17 29 GT Garbagnati / Manfredi 31 --71 Laps-- 56:14.007 1:44.536 15 Ferrari 360 Modena Electrical
34 18 03 GT Foster / Nyberg /Skelton 28 --74 Laps-- 49:38.844 1:43.080 17 Panoz Esperante GT-LM/Elan Mechanical
35 4 56 LMP675 Bucknum / Willman /McMurry 24 --78 Laps-- 38:23.083 1:32.358 5 Pilbeam MP91/Willman 6 Suspension
36 5 37 LMP675 Jon Field / Dayton Lola EX257/AER DNS
Final Results pending audit of scoring and driver's logs. Margin of victory: 3.708 Laps, Time of race: 2:45:57.739